Songs At Midnight
by Nameless-kun
Summary: Jake is not where he wants to be right now. Anywhere but a club, but this club is actually a Jazz club. Instead of loud, thumping music and grinding bodies, there are relaxed people at tables and a lone man on the stage singing. And boy, does he sing like an angel. Now the night is over and Jake wants to find this mystery man. Will he find him? And what will happen after "Hello."?


This was not what Jake had in mind to do tonight. Go on a trip across the oceans? Sure. Climb a group of mountains with just his Grandma and a backpack? Sign him up. Look for his, most likely intoxicated grandmother in a club before she got kicked out? No thank you. He would much rather be anywhere but here, his guardian be damned. Yet here he was. Standing in front of the curtain separating the front sitting area to the rest of the club. The male didn't hear any thumping music on the other side so he took that a good sign, taking a quick breath of courage before pulling back the fabric and slipping into the back.

What he saw on the other side was something he was not expecting at all. While he was waiting for the sweaty mass of young adults and pounding bass, what he found was a room full of tables filled with quiet adults as they sipped their drinks and watched the band at the end of the room playing a soft melody as a young male sang a gentle tune. Jake blinked once, twice, three times before he actually snapped back to reality and took the room in. His eyes trailed along every point of the room until then froze on the blond up on stage. The man's hair was a wild mess of pale blond spikes. Which seemed to compliment his odd, brightly colored orange eyes that were half lidded as he crooned. Jake was so entranced by the singer's appearances he didn't even notice that the male had ended his last song and had begun another. The blond's voice was as smooth as silk when the song had started.

"Birds flying high, you know how I feel. Sun in the sky, you know how I feel…Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me...And I'm feelin' good." The blond gave a small smirk as a trumpet came to life, the musician blared his instrument to give the song an almost 007 feel to the song. The male continued to sing, his voice easily changing pitch with the music while Jake just stood completely transfixed on the show in front of him. The singer swayed lightly along, the smallest of smiles on his face as the tune poured from his lips, he looked like he could care less of the crowd cheering and clapping before him. Jake had to swallow a large lump in his throat when the blond held a note, his hand running through the untameable spikes. Oh my. Jake was certainly not expecting this. The lad may be a lady killer but this was the first time the adventurer had ever had his heart stop for another male before. Which was exactly what his heart decided to do right at the moment the blond stepped off the stage, taking advantage of the instrumental to mingle with the crowd. He would stop at a table full of women and make quick conversation, gingerly kissing one of their hands before he left for another table. It wasn't until he was making his way back to the stage that he even noticed the black haired male staring at him. After a moment of them staring at each other, the man finally winked at him and turned back to the stage. He took a long half leap back on to the stage then he quickly spun himself around to face the crowd once more, the cheering even louder from before while he belted out another few notes as his hands moved in time with the rhythm. His hips and shoulders were moving in a way that seemed perfectly normal to the rest of the crowd but it made Jake shiver slightly and gulp once more. Was this performance even legal? It would explain why this establishment was for "of age persons". The blond slowly ended the song, milking the applause before he gave the audience a bow and stepped quietly off the stage. Jake was snapped back from his trance, his feet moving almost instantly to go to the blond. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when he got there, whether he would try to talk to the male or just babble in front of him, but he needed to get closer. All that failed though when Jake's Grandma stumbled into her grandchild, a bright but droopy smile on her rosy face.

"Jake! There you are, my boy. I was...I was looking for you everywhere!" She slurred, her hands clumsily grabbing Jake's cheeks to pull his head to face her even though his eyes were constantly wandering to find the blond. Where in the hell did he go? The woman huffed and pouted for a moment then she broke out into a big smile and giggled. "Didja see that boy? He-He was quite the looker, eh? Think I gotta chance? With em?" She questioned as Jake's face twisted in horror. He held her tight around her shoulders and sighed, glancing back to where the mystery singer had disappeared to then looked down at his grandmother.

"Alright now is about the best time to take you home. No more drinking tonight. Especially when you get all frisky like this." The woman scoffed loudly but remained quiet for the long ride home on the taxi. He put her to bed before hitting his own mattress with an exasperated sound. He wished he could have found that singer earlier. It left a weird feeling in his chest to think that he couldn't actually speak to the man, to find out why he winked at him, why he felt this way about the singer, or even just to find out his name. It didn't take long before he had decided that come the morning he would find that mystery man. But for now he fell asleep soundly, the ending song from last night replaying in his head.

The morning came in soothingly, the sun peeking through the viridian curtains only to land on the dark mess of hair. It only took a few moments before the morning's light had got to the sleeping person under the camouflage blanket, the male groaning slowly as he pulled the fabric over his head to shield him until his dream was done. A light smile grew on his face as he dreamt of laying on a couch with a cool blond, the other singing sweetly as he poured himself some juice first thing in the morning. The whole scene seemed so picturesque, so natural, so perfect and Jake reveled in the feeling. The man sat down in front of him so he could continue to lay down, the very smallest hint of a smile on the blond's lips before he quietly muttered a good morning and leaned down to press a kiss on his lips. The smiling man began to fade away before Jake could even make any contact with him, the underside of a warm comforter meeting his face as his eyes adjusted to being back in the waking world. With another groan, Jake rolled out of bed, remembering his mission for the day. Yes, he knew what his initial task was but as to where to start or what he would do if he happened to actually find the male was beyond him. Maybe he would check the club again, see if it has anyone there in the daytime to tell him who the entertainer was exactly. That sounded like as good a plan as any so Jake quickly went about his daily routine, showering at a speed that would make someone believe there had only been freezing cold water. He shuffled back to his room before his Grandma woke up with a terrible hangover, drying himself off before throwing the towel haphazardly on his floor as he went to his dresser to pull out his clothes. When he was fully dressed he turned to the large Avatar poster on his wall, an excited smile on his face. "Well? How do I look?" He asked no one in particular, showing the poster the man's choice of khaki cargo shorts, an open green button down over top his favorite white shirt adorned with a green skull. Jake really loves skulls. With the silent approval of the blue creatures he nods and makes a hasty exit out of the house. The noirette takes a look back at the house, the old style home nestled right in between two high rise buildings makes him smile then he starts off on his journey. He makes his way back to the club, spotting the familiar purple sign and black tinted windows. The sign is an intricate design of spikes and what appears to be a moon and a cross with the word Derse scrawled across it in white cursive. The hanging light on the window was shut off so the place was clearly closed but Jake saw someone mopping the floors and decided to knock on the glass. It only took a moment to grab the person's attention before they came over to open the door slightly. Jake discovers that the person cleaning is infact a male with long, black hair. He is also wearing a pair of sunglasses that seem to be cracked on both lenses. He stares at the adventurer expectantly then Jake perks up, a gruff voice leaving the rather buff man's throat.

"Can I help you with something?" Jake blinks wildly then nods, an awkward smile on his face.

"Oh. Yes. I was just wondering if perhaps you could tell me who was that blond singer from last night?" The man hums in thought then he nods slowly.

"There was a Rose Lalonde. And I believe there was also a Dave Strider performing. At different times of the evening, of course."

"Ah. I was speaking of the male? Blond spikes and bright orange eyes?" The man raised a brow and thought again, shaking his head slowly.

"I don't know another blond that performs here. But, now that I remember, Mister Strider had called in sick yesterday but he reassured me that he would have a replacement. I can give you the address of Mister Strider and maybe he can give you an identity." He explained before giving the nervous male an address where to find a one, Dave Strider. Jake maneuvered his way around town, doing his best to find the correct address. He thought that he was never going to find the other's place until he quite literally stumbled upon it. He wasn't watching where he was going and tripped on a piece of cracked concrete, falling onto a set of steps to some lavish looking lofts. He quickly snapped his vision from the paper to the metal numerals on the face of the building. Jake blinked twice before he shouted, giving a celebratory whoop on the stairs. He ran up the stairs, skipping a few in excitement. He pressed the buzzer that had the name Strider etched into it and waited. It was weird for him. He had never gone looking for a guy before, sure plenty of women as he is quite the ladykiller but never once another male. When the door buzzed he jumped and smiled, skipping up the stairs all the way up he was a little out of breath by the time he made it up. He really should have taken the elevator but the excitement was just too much for him. He knocked out a small tune and the door opened to show a very disheveled male. He was rather short, jet black hair and bright sky blue eyes. The blue-eyed boy stared up at Jake with a curious expression, his head even tilting slightly.

"Umm, hi? You don't look like the pizza guy." The male trailed off, looking somewhat disappointed in the discovery. But Jake cleared his throat and smiled.

"Sorry, chap. Can't say I am the pizza guy but I was wondering if there is a David Strider running about here?" Jake leaned ever so slightly to glance around from his spot in front of the door. At the utterance of the name a deeper tone echoed out from the kitchen, they clearly did not sound happy.

"Name's Dave. Not David." Suddenly there was a taller man next to the noirette, his blond hair a mess and his hands were full of both hair as he ruffled the other's hair and a bottle of apple juice. "John, you're covered in hickies. Do you really think that's gonna be good to show the pizza guy?" With that the male named John jumped while his cheeks and ears went bright red. Not another word was exchanged between the disheveled pair except a scoff and a playful punch to the arm before John ran into the bedroom to hopefully change. Meanwhile Dave stared at Jake with a growing curiosity. "So, who are you exactly?" He asked simply, his eyes covered by a pair of shades as his face settled into a neutral expression. This caused Jake to snap back from watching the two interact to reality and his cheeks went the lightest shade of pink.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Name's Jake English. Pleasure to meet you, David." Jake held his hand out with the brightest smile he had at the moment for introductions. Dave rolled his eyes and muttered 'Dave. not David.' before he carefully took the hand and gave it a polite shake. Then he stared at him and waited for the answer. This made Jake squirm inwardly and he quickly dropped his hand, his bright smile now twisting into a sheepish one. "Right. I was wondering if you could tell me who took your spot yesterday at Derse?" Suddenly Dave's eyebrow shot up and the smallest bit of a smirk found it's way onto his lips.

"Really? Why? Got a crush on him? Or are you some newspaper writer?" Jake shook his head a little too quickly at the questions, the light pink started to grow into a red.

"W-Well I was just curious, you know. I wanted to have a good chat with him. Tell him that he did a good job last night." This time Dave gave a chuckle, the smirk slowly growing.

"Yeah sure. I can tell you. His name's Dirk. Right now he'll probably be at the Crocker Diner. Just tell the hostess that you're looking for him and she'll take you right to him." Every word he spoke just reminded Jake of a fox that was playing a big trick, but he believed him and nodded with that bright smile again. He barely let the man say another word before he shouted a thank you and went barreling down the stairs. He exited the building and gave another whoop, running in the direction of one of his favorite diners in town.

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AN: Thanks for reading everyone! I am going to be working on Chapter 2 very soon so don't worry! If you were wondering what song Dirk was singing to it is this one:

watch?v=Edwsf-8F3sI

So the idea of Dirk being a night club singer goes to the lovely artist that drew the art that inspired this. So all credit goes out to them, if I could find their picture, while I just write based off of it.

Enjoy it? Review it! Or just let me know through PM. Love it? Follow the story and get updates for new chapters!

Thanks again guys,  
Nameless-kun


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